SS2 Completes First Feathered Re-Entry
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo has completed its first feathered re-entry test. SpaceShipTwo's unique feathering system keeps the craft's re-entry speed low enough that a heat shield is not required, drastically reducing the size, weight, and cost of the design. SPACE.com Staff
New Kids On The Block
Less than a year after Jon Goff founded Altius Space Machines, an angel investment organization called the Space Angels Network has chosen to invest in Altius for their new "sticky boom" technology. Chuck Black at Commercial Space Blog
SpaceX Gets New CFO
SpaceX has chosen Bret Johnson as their new Chief Financial Officer. Johnson brings 20 years of experience in high-profile, publicly traded companies as SpaceX undergoes rapid growth. Press Release at SpaceX
Orbital Eyes West Coast
Orbital Sciences has announced they will use an unspecified west coast launch pad for their new Taurus 2 rocket, which will debut later this year. Amy Svitak at Space News
NASA Call For Proposals
NASA has made a call for commercial suborbital flight services proposals to fuel their new Flight Opportunities Program. The Flight Opportunities Program is a combination of NASA's old FAST and CRuSR programs. Release at NASA
Masten Launching From Canaveral
Masten Space Systems has signed a $400,000 contract with Space Florida to make a series of demonstration flights of their Xombie vehicle at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Press Release at Masten
Growing Maryland's Space Industry
Maryland's Governor Martin O'Malley has launched a new space business development initiative which will to help grow Maryland's space industry. Press Release at Office of Governor Martin O'Malley
Shooting For The Moon
Several months ago, Space Adventures arranged a circum-lunar trip for two wealthy passengers in Russia's Soyuz. Now, they have announced an additional module that will give passengers a little extra room. Dennis Chow at SPACE.com
Gas Stations in Space
NASA has put out a call for a $200 million mission to demonstrate the storage and transfer of fuels in space. "Gas stations" in space will greatly improve our ability to launch rockets to the moon, asteroids, Mars, and beyond. Brittany Sauser at Technology Review
Unusual Cargo
A suborbital rocket developed by UP Aerospace recently launched wedding rings and loved one's ashes into space. A strange payload to say the least, but hey - if there is a market for it, why not? Leonard David at SPACE.com
Surprise, Surprise
George Nield recently laid out the FAA's FY2012 budget request for Congress. Not surprisingly, Congress doesn't think the administration needs the funding. Doug Messier at Parabolic Arc and Amy Svitak at SPACE.com
Rocket To Nowhere
Rand Simberg shares his feelings about the current state of the commercial space industry, and the mindset that is far too prevalent in Washington.
The New Space Race
The commercial space industry has been growing at an impressive rate with companies, new and old, vying for contracts and market share. This new space race is proving to be even more exciting than the original. Jay Barbree at MSNBC.com
False Accusations
Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute made some harsh accusations of NASA and its plans to use commercial rockets. Obviously, SpaceX had something to say, but so did several more-neutral parties, the most articulate of whom was Rand Simberg.
The Space Show
Robert Zimmerman, Dr. Alan Stern, and Jon Goff discuss their respective NewSpace initiatives with Dr. David Livingston on The Space Show.
NewSpace 2011: The Next Big Thing
Registration for the Space Frontier Foundation's annual NewSpace Conference is now open. NewSpace 2011: The Next Big Thing, being held at Ames July 28-31, will bring together leaders of the NewSpace industry and NASA to discuss the current state and business of NewSpace, potential government/commercial partnerships, and where we should go from here.
